Park University will be a renowned international leader in providing innovative educational opportunities for learners within the global society.

Park University Mission

The mission of Park University, a entrepreneurial institution of learning, is to provide access to academic excellence which will prepare learners to think critically, communicate effectively and engage in lifelong learning while serving a global community.

Course Description

This course will cover a wide range of subjects in health care in community based health care delivery systems. This course will provide an introduction to the concepts of epidemiology, ecology, community needs assessment, social, cultural and economic influences on the utilization of health care by community aggregrates. ( 3 Credit Hours)

Overview and Course Goals

This course examines factors relevant to community based health care delivery. It will discuss current and future issues, community needs and services, and social, cultural, and economic influences on the utilization of health care services.The basic goals of this course are for the student to understand the various influences in the community on the utilization of health care delivery systems, explain the current and future issues in public health care and the role of government, and interpret the role of specific interests in the health care industry and the effect on health policy decision and organization in delivery of health care. Students will evaluate current priorities and future developments in health issues as they relate to social, political, cultural, technological, ethical and economic forces in health care delivery through research of these issues and present this information in the form of a term paper. The course should help you to have a deeper understanding of the issues in community based health care delivery and assist you in the development of strategies to solve current and future issues in health care.

Core Learning Outcomes

1. Outline the philosophical and historical background of public health issues.

A class week is defined as the period of time between Monday and Sunday midnight, Central Standard Time, the time zone of the home campus in Parkville, Missouri. Good students who anticipate receiving an “A” or a “B” in the course will have reviewed the material and posted some of the assignments by midweek, so as to have time to engage in class discussions in a meaningful way. Failure to do so is the equivalent to coming to a traditional class late. Posting course assignments late in the week will likely have a negative impact on performance and grades.

E-Mail Procedures and Submitting

General e-mail: When sending e-mail other than assignments, you must identify yourself fully by name and class in all e-mail sent to me and/or other members of our class.

My Response Policy: I will check my e-mail frequently. I will respond to course-related questions within 24-48 hours (unless I notify you previously that I will be unavailable).

Students are responsible for clicking on the link below and thoroughly reading each Online course policy. If you have questions about any of these policies, please contact your instructor for clarification.

Letter grades will be used, to include A, B, C, D and F. Pluses and minuses will be used in projects and other course components, but University policy precludes the use of pluses and minuses in final course grades.

A midterm exam and a final exam will be given over current issues presented in class, readings and the content of papers developed by students, and will constitute 25% of your course grade.

The term paper presented in prescribed format will constitute 25% of your course grade, and is expected to be approximately ten to fifteen double spaced pages in length not including the reference and title pages.

Term paper: Write a paper about a current issue in Community Based Healthcare. Include in the paper: social, political, cultural, technological, ethical and economic forces affecting this healthcare issue. Describe any strategies and recommendations made to resolve this current issue. Include any specific interests in the health care industry that would have an effect on health policy decisions. Finally, discuss how this current issue could affect future initiatives in community based health care delivery.

Effect of current issue on future initiatives in healthcare delivery: 30 points

Sources of information in body of paper are cited using APA style format: 15 points

Reference Page: 15 points

TOTAL POINTS: 200 points

Topics should be selected and approved by the end of Week One, but not later than the end of week Two.

The entire term paper will be submitted at the end of Week Eight, for grading.

(There will be opportunity for revisions in each section, based on interaction with the professor and peer reviews until the end of Week 7.)

The final exam must be completed and submitted Saturday of Week Eight by Midnight. Please check your calendar dates and arrange to complete the final accordingly.

GRADING PLAN:

Midterm Examination

100 points

Final Paper

200 points

Class Participation

240 points

Final Examination

100 points

Article Summary (2)

100 points

Peer Review (2)

50 points

TOTAL POINTS

790 points

Total Points for the course will be converted to a percentage grade, and letter grades will be assigned as follows:

Grading Scale

A=

90- 100% (711 to 790 points)

B =

80-89% (632 to 710 points)

C =

70-79% (553 to 631 points)

D =

60-69% (474 to 552points)

F =

< 60% (473 or fewer points)

Final examination - A final Examination will be taken by during the final week (Week eight or sixteen) at one of the ParkUniversity sites around the country or at an alternative location approved by your Instructor where ParkUniversity sites are not available. It will be the responsibility of the student to arrange for a proctor, by the 6th week of the term, who will be accepted and approved by the instructor. Guidelines for selecting an acceptable proctor can be found at the Park University Website. For proctored examinations, photo identification is required at the time of the test. A proctor request form will be made available to you during the first week of class so that you can send your requested proctor to me for approval.

Submission of Late Work: Unless there are special circumstances discussed ahead of time with the instructor, grades for late work are deducted 10% each day for up to five days past the due date. After five days the work will not receive any credit.

Proctored final examination - A computerized examination will be taken in a proctored testing environment during the 8th (or 16th) week at one of the ParkUniversity sites around the country or at an alternative location. For proctored examinations, photo identification is required at the time of the test. Guidelines for selecting an acceptable proctor can be found on the Park University Website.

Other Information on proctored exams:

It will be the responsibility of the student to arrange for a proctor, by the 6th week of the term, who is accepted and approved by the course instructor.

Approval of proctors is the discretion of the Online instructor.

A proctor request form will be made available to you during the first week of class so that you can send your requested proctor to your instructor for approval.

Failure to take a final proctored exam (or submit your final project for some online graduate courses) will result in an automatic "F" grade.

Some Graduate Online courses may not require a proctored Final Examination.

Academic Honesty

Academic integrity is the foundation of the academic community. Because each student has the primary responsibility for being academically honest, students are advised to read and understand all sections of the Park University academic honesty policies, which can be found on page 101 of the Park University Undergraduate Catalog or page 13 of the Park University Graduate Catalog.

Definitions

Academic dishonesty includes committing or the attempt to commit cheating, plagiarism, falsifying academic records, and other acts intentionally designed to provide unfair advantage to the students.

Cheating includes, but is not limited to, intentionally giving or receiving unauthorized aid or notes on examinations, papers, laboratory reports, exercises, projects, or class assignments which are intended to be individually completed. Cheating also includes the unauthorized copying of tests or any other deceit or fraud related to the student's academic conduct.

Plagiarism involves the use of quotation without quotation marks, the use of quotations without indication of the source, the use of another's idea without acknowledging the source, the submission of a paper, laboratory report, project, or class assignments (any portion of such) prepared by another person, or incorrect paraphrasing.

Falsifying academic recordsincludes, but is not limited to, altering grades or other academic records.

Other acts that constitute academic dishonesty include:

Stealing, manipulating, or interfering with an academic work of another student or faculty member.

Collusion with other students on work to be completed by one student.

Lying to or deceiving a faculty member.

Procedure

In the event of alleged academic dishonesty, an Academic Dishonesty Incident Report will be submitted to an Online Academic Director who will then investigate the charge. Students who engage in academic dishonesty are subject to a range of disciplinary actions, from a failing grade on the assignment or activity in question to expulsion from ParkUniversity. ParkUniversity's academic honesty policy and related procedures can be found in full in the 2004-2005 Park University Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs.

Attendance

Professors are required to keep attendance records and report absences throughout the term. Excused absences can be granted by the instructor for medical reasons, school sponsored activities, and employment-related demands including temporary duty. The student is responsible for completing all missed work. Any student failing to attend class for two consecutive weeks, without an approved excuse from their instructor, will be administratively withdrawn and notified via email that you have been withdrawn and a grade of "WH" will be recorded.

An attendance report of "P" (present) will be recorded for students who have logged in to the Online classroom at least once during each week of the term. PLEASE NOTE: Recording of attendance is not equivalent to participation. Participation grades will be assigned by each individual instructor according to the criteria in the Grading Policy section of the syllabus.

McAfee Memorial Library- Online information, links, electronic databases and the Online catalog. Contact the library for further assistance via email or at 800-270-4347.

Park University Online Bookstore- Select "Distance Learning - Graduate," or "Distance Learning Internet," and then click on the appropriate course code (ex. AC 201, PA 501) to see the list of required and optional texts for each course that you are enrolled in.

Advising - Park University would like to assist you in achieving your educational goals. Your Campus Center Administrator can provide advising to you, please contact them for assistance. If you need contact information for your Campus Center, click here.

Online Tutoring Services- Park University has arranged for Online students to receive five hours of free access to Online tutoring and academic support through Smarthinking. If you would like Online tutoring, please contact me to receive their recommendation and information on how to access the Online tutoring.

Career Counseling- The Career Development Center (CDC) provides services for all stages of career development. The mission of the CDC is to provide the career planning tools to ensure a lifetime of career success.